Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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432 of 438 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Security Suite, But Not Perfect, November 18, 2004
I will preface this review by saying that I purchased the 2004 edition just 3 days before the 2005 edition was released, but Trend did me right and gave me a free upgrade. That's a plus right out of the starting gate.
I originally switched to Trend from Norton after having slowdowns and resource shortages. Norton is very large and very slow, but by and large it worked for me. I was hesitant to make the switch, but I decided to do it anyway and see how Trend's product works. I have not been disappointed. First off, the memory footprint for this package is about half that of Norton when everything is turned on. For me, that's important - Norton takes up huge amounts of memory and slows the system down, where Trend takes up less room and seems to be a lot faster at execution time.
Trend has always had a very fast and very effective antivirus. This latest version is no exception. However, where this package seems to shine most brightly in the antivirus arena is in the timeliness of pattern file updates. Less than a week after the release of a particular email virus, Trend caught it arriving in my inbox and terminated it before it could do anything. To have a pattern for a brand new virus and already be able to handle it is a very, very good thing.
The firewall itself is quite effective and it seems to do its job very efficiently. Where it tends to bother people is in the fact that it is a very quiet firewall and it does not notify for every little thing like Norton or ZoneLabs do. This may or may not agree with you, but for me I'm content that it's working in the background and isn't bothering me with every little thing that happens.
The spyware detection feature seems to have come of age, and even after running SpyBot S&D and Ad-Aware, it still found spyware on my system. It did a good job cleaning up and it did everything very fast and efficiently.
There are a couple of things I cannot test, as I am on dialup. There are new network protection features that allow remote security administration for systems on the network running Trend's suite, and there is also a neat feature that loooks for intruders on wireless networks. Considering that cybersquatting on wireless networks is very common, this is an important feature that should be in all security suites. If you are running a wireless network, this feature will be invaluable.
Trend includes a parental control feature in its suite, and it works in a fashion similar to Norton's and ZoneLab's equivalents. You pick your categories to block, and you're done. However, there is a flaw in their implementation - the blocking only seems to work with MS Internet Explorer. So, if you use Mozilla/FireFox or Opera, you're out of luck if you want to use the URL blocking.
There is also an antispam feature, but it is not going to prevent spam from arriving in your inbox. Rather, it simply flags questionable messages as spam in the subject at delivery. This can help with sorting and disposal, but it will not keep it from being delivered. In my opinion, spam should never reach the email client if you have an antispam solution in place, so I regard this particular feature as ineffective. I suppose it is better than nothing, though, and many users will find it helpful - I don't. I didn't like Norton's, either, which works the same way.
One interesting feature that Trend sports is "Outbreak Notification" which is used to alert users when a new, high-risk threat is circulating. Users will get a notification when a new high-profile virus is spreading, and that can be helpful if you're relying on manual updates.
Trend Micro has put together a winner in their 2005 edition of their PC-Cillin Internet Security suite. It does not lack any major features, and the majority of the things they have included are very good and very effective. There are a few soft spots, but these are not critical to system security, and overall Trend is quickly catching up to the "big boys." If you want a fast, small-footprint security solution that competes very competently with the likes of Norton, ZoneLabs and McAfee, Trend is an excellent contender.
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215 of 219 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Substitute for Norton, November 1, 2004
Here was my review from 11-2-04:
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After using the 2005 30-day demo posted on the Trend Micro site, I'm a believer and I am ordering this great product.
I am a long-time Norton Internet Security user, but after learning of the inclusion of product activation in the 2004 package, I just couldn't bring myself to upgrade to NIS 2004 or 2005. NIS has worked well for me but occasional Gibson Research diagnostics revealed the firewall was leaving ports open and the program did slow things down a bit.
Trend Micro's PC-cillin had every feature that I found useful and then some. Based on the demo, PC-cillin is fast (bootup and scanning), solid (no weird quirks or crashes) and highly configurable. Every time I identified a feature that I wanted to customize whether it be alerts, scheduled scans, updating or general operations, there was an easy and straightforward way to change it. The user interface is simple yet powerful and the interface / feature set have been significantly upgraded from 2004-2005 for an even better product. If anything changes, I'll communicate it but, for now, I'm sold.
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This was my opinion last year and I still stand by my positive experience with this product. The only weaknesses of this product are the default firewall level (only a problem for expert users) and the spyware detection. By default, the firewall monitors only outgoing data, but if you want added security, simply go into the profile of the firewall you're using (direct connection for me) and up the security level to 'high'. PC-cillin will then start monitoring outgoing data and the number of popup boxes is minimal. As for the spyware detection, I leave the "real-time" spyware monitoring turned off and run a separate product like Webroot Spy Sweeper or the free Microsoft Antispyware Beta. This is really not a knock on this product; from my research, none of the 'internet security' products from any company are good at cleaning up spyware, but they are getting better every year. Spyware/adware is such a major problem today that it deserves it's own solution.
Besides these two minor points, PC-cillin still continues to impress me. My immediate family and friends whose computers I'm called into help out with bought and are totally happy with this product. It will not slow down your computer and it updates/scans without user intervention (to the few users in these reviews that were bothered by constant update popups, check the setting to have the program update without user intervention). I've evaluated and used products from Norton, McAfee and Zone Labs and PC-cillin is still my internet security application of choice.
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37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Trend Micro 2005 PC-cillin Internet Security Suite, July 22, 2005
I wanted to write this review because I've just finished a long, hard, comprehensive hands-on review of the four MAJOR Internet Security products: Norton, McAfee, ZoneLabs and Trend Micro. I did this because all of them offer free trials and I wanted to see for myself who was the best.
I won't keep you in suspense with a lot of technical mumbo jumbo, Trend Micro 2005 PC-cillin is the best product for a normal, average home computer. What I mean by normal is someone who runs Windows XP and uses their home computer to pay bills, surf the Internet, play games, use Instant Messenger (AIM, MSN, YAHOO, ICQ, etc), do their homework, send e-mails, and compose general paperwork and presentations.
Now here is why you should choose Trend... 1) Trend does not hog your computer memory or cpu and does not noticeable slow down your computer or other applications. 2) Trend is fast, it loads quickly when you turn on your computer and comes up fast when you open the program itself. 3) It is extremely user friendly. 4) Updating Trend is fast and easy, on average it takes less then 20 seconds. 5) Trend Micro updates your virus definitions almost daily. (Thats a very good thing!) 6) Running a full system scan of all the files on your PC takes about 30 minutes. (Thats fast!) 7) Trend runs best on a Windows XP computer, but I installed it on Windows 98SE, Windows ME and Windows 2000 Professional and it ran flawlessly on all three.
About the other brands... Norton is a decent product. It has a good antivirus, spam filter, and firewall. But the last two releases (2004 & 2005) have been bombs. They are full of bugs, installations are cumbersome and can easily go haywire, and above all else they realy slow your computer down. I would not recommend Norton anymore, to anyone. - McAfee has the same problems as Norton except to a lesser degree. The installation is easier, updating is easier, but it is still a bloated piece of software that slows your computer. - The only real choices right now are Zonelabs and Trend. Zonelabs has a real solid product, I would recommend that product to Techies or folks who are interested in seeing "all the details" of what is coming in and going out. Personally, I have been a Techie since I was 14 and now I'm 27. I'm tired of seeing "all the details" and I just want my PC to run as fast and clean as possible. And for that, Trend was the clear winner. When all was said and done, Trend Micro and Zonelabs perform at the same outstanding level of satisfaction, but Trend edges out Zonelab because it is a bit faster and has a friendlier user interface.
Three more thing before I sign-off. First, some people are under the misunderstanding that Trends firewall does not scan outgoing data. That is false, you just have to turn the option on. After Trend is installed, double-click the icon on your taskbar. When the program loads, select the Network Security button on the left. Then double-click your active profile name with the green dot beside it. Go to the Security Level tab and set it to High. Viola, your done. You will now be alerted to both outgoing and incoming traffic. Second thing I want to say is that the Spam Filter on Trend does not come with a Spam Folder (like Norton). It only marks each e-mail, in the Subject Line, with the word [spam]. For some folks thats a little weak, but for most its not a problem. And the spam filter works at a comparable level with other spam filters. Which means, its marks Spam correctly about 95% of the time. Third, I recommend two more products for your safety and Internet enjoyment: Microsoft Antispyware and either Google Toolbar, Yahoo Toolbar or MSN Toolbar to block pop-ups. Google seems to work the best, but it doesnt really matter as they all perform well.
Good luck!
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